ALIMENTATION". 



* 



Instinctively most persons prefer beef, as an habitual ar- 

 ticle of diet, to any other variety of meat. The experience 

 of almost every one has taught that this article can be used 

 more constantly than any other of its class. ~No meats be- 

 come so distasteful from constant use as those which are con- 

 sidered as delicacies, when taken occasionally, such as veni- 

 son or any variety of game. Any one can realize that it 

 would be almost impossible to eat a considerable quantity of 

 any kind of game daily for thirty or sixty days, yet there 

 are many who, from choice, consume more or less fresh beef 

 daily for months and years. " Beef-stock " is the basis of 

 most soups and sauces, and is the main reliance of cooks in 

 the preparation of what are generally termed made-dishes. 

 Though of course there are individual exceptions, as there 

 must be to any rule which may be laid down concerning the 

 digestibility of different articles, beef is the most easily di- 

 gested of any of the meats, and its influence upon the nutri- 

 tion of the body is most favorable. All parts of the muscular 

 system of the ox possess highly nutritive properties, but 

 many are more esteemed than others, from superior flavor, 

 tenderness, and perhaps facility of digestion. It is of course 

 important that this animal, and others of the same class, 

 should be of the proper age, well fed, and that the flesh be 

 kept for a certain time before it is cooked. It is unnecessary 

 to enter into details with regard to these points. 



In China, it is well known that dogs, cats, and rats are exposed for sale in 

 the public markets, and are extensively used as food. The ordinary prejudice 

 against the carnivora is generally so far respected in that the avowed consump- 

 tion of these animals seldom occurs ; nevertheless many are used as food in the 

 large cities of the world. Following the remarks on horse-flesh, Payen says : 

 " They regard with as much care a similar prejudice, likewise very wide-spread, 

 when they serve up to consumers, in the same establishments, carnivora of a 

 small feline species, raised and nourished with great care, not, it is true, in view 

 of such a destiny, but which none the less furnish at the occasion a kind of fur, 

 and a nutritive meat of good quality, presenting, after cooking by the ordinary 

 method, a very great analogy in appearance and taste with the flesh of the rab- 

 bit." (Ibid.) 



